Troyella Oneshots: Volume II
by Abandoned.See new ZefronsAngel
Summary: New one posted 2/29! Goodbye, My Love-Troy and Gabriella say goodbye to each other before they go their separate ways. Based on Zanessa. Not related to the other two oneshots in this collection. WARNING: TEAR JERKER.
1. Comfort

_**Comfort**_

**Troyella had broken up over a year ago. But when Troy runs into Gabriella, whose new boyfriend hurt her, he comforts her. It's kind of more Zanessa, because I was getting ideas about if Austin hurt Vanessa and Zac was around and he comforted her, but real life fics aren't allowed on here, so I'm making it Troyella, but think of it as Zanessa, if that makes any sense. Austin's name will just stay the same because 1) He's not in it that much, 2) He's not that popular, so some people don't even know who he is, and 3) He has no life. I know the last one made no sense, but whatever. Enjoy the story!**

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><p>Gabriella Montez hurried down the sidewalk, fighting back the tears that wanted to spring into her chocolate eyes. She had just snuck out of her boyfriend's house, and was on her way home. However, she had to walk because she didn't have her car. Austin Butler-her boyfriend-had driven to his place a few hours earlier, but she didn't want to wait for him to take her back. At the moment, she didn't even want to be near him. After the premiere of her new movie had ended, he had taken her back to his house, where he'd pressured her into having sex with him. Not wanting to make him angry, Gabriella had eventually agreed to it, only to deeply regret it. As he had taken her clothes off, a look of disgust had come across his face at the sight of her body. He then went on to criticize her, saying she had to "clean herself up between the thighs" and that her he wished her breasts were "bigger, because then they would be more fun to play with." However, despite his opinion of the way she looked, he still went on to have sex with her. But instead of being gentle and loving, he was rough. Gabriella had tried telling him to go slower, but he refused to listen. So once it was all over and Austin was sleeping, Gabriella had gotten dressed and snuck out. She didn't care that it was the middle of the night; all she wanted to do was try to forget about what had happened and get home.<p>

"Hey," someone said.

Gabriella looked up to see Troy Bolton-her ex-standing only a foot away from her. If she had walked two more steps, she would've ran right into him. "Hey," she returned awkwardly.

"What are you doing out here by yourself this late?" Troy asked.

It was then that a tear escaped from Gabriella's eye at the reminder of why she was trying to get home in the dark. "I...I..." Suddenly, not being able to hold it in any longer, she started sobbing. "He...He hurt me."

Troy knew exactly who Gabriella was talking about. _I'll kill him,_ he thought, cautiously moving closer to Gabriella and wrapping his strong arms around her waist.

Gabriella was confused for a moment. She wasn't sure if she should pull away or let Troy hold her. She wasn't with him anymore, but she could really use some comfort, and the familiar feeling of Troy's arms around her made her feel safe.

"It's okay," Troy soothed, running his fingers through Gabriella's hair, knowing she loved when he did that.

_I should just go, before I end up staying with him. I'm still technically with Austin, and I don't want to cheat._ However, something kept her from going.

"Let's go to my house," Troy suggested after a minute. Lifting Gabriella off the ground and into his arms, he carried her to his car, which was only a few feet away. It was then that the paparazzi started to appear.

"Are you two back together?"

"Is Gabriella cheating on Austin?"

"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

Shielding Gabriella's face, Troy placed her in the passenger seat of his car, then went around to the drivers' side and got behind the wheel. _I hope I can get back home fast,_ he said to himself with a groan.

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><p>Ten minutes later, Troy pulled up to his house. After stepping out of the car, he walked to the other side and lifted Gabriella, who had been crying too much to even put on her seatbelt, into his arms once more. Stroking her curls, he went to the front door and opened it. He then took her upstairs to his room, where he tucked her into his bed and told her, "I'll be back in a minute."<p>

_Why did I let him bring me here?_ Gabriella questioned herself. _This really shouldn't be happening. It just seems wrong to be in his bed when we're not together..._ What she didn't want to admit to herself was that no matter how wrong it seemed, it felt more than right. She felt like she belonged in his house, in his bed, and in his arms.

Just then, Troy returned with a box of tissues and a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Handing the ice cream to Gabriella, he put the tissues next to her, then climbed in beside her on the other side and wrapped his arms around her waist. "It's okay," he whispered. "It's okay."

"T-Thank you," stammered Gabriella as she put a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. _Would Austin do this for me if he saw me walking down the sidewalk crying in the middle of the night?_

Taking his thumb, Troy wiped away some of Gabriella's tears and pressed a kiss into her hair. Once she had calmed down for the most part and finished her ice cream, he asked gently, "What did he do to you, sweetie? He didn't hit you or anything, did he?" As much as he hated asking that question, as he knew it would only remind Gabriella of the reason why she was upset, he knew he had to. If Austin was physically hurting her, he would have to help her out and call the police. Or if the police didn't get there in time, go over to his house and strangle him.

"He...he...he pressured me..." Gabriella's tears flowed once more. "He...he...told...he told me I...I...I was ugly. And then he was rough...he was so rough, Troy!" She climbed into Troy's lap and buried her face in his chest.

"He didn't...he didn't rape you, did he?"

"No...no...he just...he just pressured me into sleeping with him...and I told him to be gentle...but he was...he was just so rough! It...it hurt..." Gabriella tried to forget about the burning between her thighs that reminded her just how rough her boyfriend had been.

"Stay here," Troy instructed firmly, placing Gabriella back on the bed. "I have to go take care of something." With that, he ran down the stairs, out the door, and into his car. Pulling into the road, he sped over to Austin's house, where he banged on the door, then stood there waiting for someone to answer, his arms crossed over his chest in anger.

Five minutes later, Austin, thinking that Gabriella had run out to the store quick or something and was returning, answered in only his boxers. Surprise came across his face when he realized that Troy was the one on his porch.

"You bastard!" Troy shouted, taking his fist and punching Austin in the face. "You hurt her!" He punched him again and watched in satisfaction as his nose started to bleed.

"What the fuck, Bolton? What was that for?" Austin yelled.

"You know very well what it was for. Gabriella told me all about everything you did to her tonight, and I'm not going to just sit and watch you hurt her. All I have to say is that you're lucky that I don't own a gun."

"What? What do you mean? Gabriella was having a great time with me!"

"Oh, really? Then why did she leave?"

"She just...she went...she went out to get more condoms."

"You liar," Troy growled, punching Austin a third time. "I hope you're happy with yourself." With that, he grabbed the doorknob, slammed the door shut, and stomped over to his car. As quickly as he could, he drove back to his house and hurried to his room to check on Gabriella. He found her lying on his bed in the same place he had left her. She was still sniffling a little, but she wasn't as upset as she was when he'd left. "I'm back," he announced softly.

Gabriella looked over at Troy. "Where did you go?" she inquired, her voice shaking.

"To teach Austin a lesson," Troy answered. "I wasn't gonna let him get away with hurting you the way he did."

All Gabriella could do was nod in acknowledgement.

Getting into his bed, Troy pulled Gabriella close to him and tucked the covers tightly around her. "I think you should try to get some sleep, sweetie." He looked at the clock. "It's three in the morning."

Gabriella gripped Troy tightly and rested her head on his firm chest, not saying a word. She wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad thing that he had gone to beat up Austin, but she did know that being with him made her feel a whole lot safer.

Troy reached over and turned out the lamp that was beside his bed, then wiped the tears off of Gabriella's face as she shed them. It wasn't until she cried herself to sleep that Troy, while thinking of what to do with her in the morning, allowed himself to rest as well.

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><p>At eleven-thirty the next morning, Gabriella opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. <em>Where am I?<em> she asked silently. She then noticed that her head was on Troy's chest, and that his clear blue eyes were looking down at her. Suddenly, all the events from the previous night crashed down on her.

"Good morning, Gabriella," Troy smiled. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Troy...I...I cheated!" Gabriella exclaimed, pulling away from him and springing out of bed.

"No you didn't, sweetie," Troy assured. "We didn't do anything. See? We're still dressed. And I can promise that we didn't even kiss."

"But I...I spent the night with you!"

"It's okay. You didn't cheat. I was just comforting you. Think of it as a friendship thing."

Gabriella relaxed. However, it was a few moments before she spoke. "Well, I should get going. Thanks for letting me stay here."

"No problem. Anytime." Troy smiled. "Do you want a lift home?"

Gabriella's first instinct was to say no, as at the moment, she wanted to be by herself to think some things over. But then she realized how illogical it would be to walk home alone with the paparazzi surrounding her and replied with, "Yes, please."

"Okay. Let's go, then." Troy led Gabriella outside, where he opened the passenger door for her. Once she was comfortably settled in the car, he got into the drivers' seat and drove off.

The ride was silent until Troy pulled into Gabriella's driveway.

"Thanks," Gabriella said with a small smile as she opened her door.

"You're welcome," came Troy's response. "And I just want to let you know that if you need someone to talk to at any time of the day-morning, afternoon, even the middle of the night-you can call me. You still have my number, right?"

Blushing, Gabriella nodded. Although it had been over a year, she still hadn't deleted Troy from the contacts list on her cell phone.

"Alright, great. Do you want me to walk you in?"

"No, thanks."

"Okay. Well, call me if you need anything. See you later."

_See you later? Is he planning on doing something with me sometime soon?_ Gabriella thought. Aloud, she said, "Bye. Thanks again." She then got out of the car and slowly walked up to the door, aware of Troy sitting in her driveway watching to make sure she got inside her house without any problems. As she walked through the doorway and closed the door behind her, she let out a groan. Why had she gotten into this mess? She thought she was finally getting over Troy, but then he had to go and show up, and all her feelings returned. Did he want her back? Did he just want to be friends? She wasn't sure about that, but she did know that she had a lot of thinking to do, and that until she got everything worked out, she was going to have a headache.

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><p><strong>So, I hope you liked this one! I actually kept crying when I was writing it because it was reminding me that Zanessa aren't together:( Please review:)<strong>


	2. Decisions

_**Decisions**_

**Sequel to **_**Comfort.**_** After talking to Troy again after being broken up for over a year, Gabriella has some decisions to make. Should she date Troy? Should she keep dating Austin? Should she just stay single? Again, this is more Zanessa, but just with Troyella.**

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><p>Letting out a deep sigh, Gabriella tossed her phone back onto the table beside her bed and, wiping a tear from her eye, curled back underneath the covers. Two days had passed since she had spent the night with Troy, and strangely, she was both heartbroken and confused. After spending time in Troy's arms again, she knew in her heart that that was where she wanted to be for the rest of her life. However, she was trying to convince herself otherwise. The break-up had been her idea, as she and Troy had been going through a rough time and she had thought it would be good for them both to take a break and try dating other people for a while. She couldn't go running back to him after that, could she? But then Austin...he had forced her into something she wasn't ready to do with him. That's why she'd ignored his calls and texts ever since the night she snuck out of his house. And that was what she'd been looking at on her phone. In the past hour, he had sent ten texts saying, <em>Where are you? You're not at Bolton's house, are you? <em>and _Talk to me, babe. Why'd you just walk out after we had sex?_ and, finally, _Are you cheating on me with Bolton?_

Gabriella took a deep breath, then picked up her phone once more. After staring at the screen with a blank look for a few minutes, she began to type a reply to Austin. _I need a break, Austin. I'm very confused right now, and I just need to end our relationship for a little while._ Hesitantly, she pressed the button to send it, her heart racing with fear. How would he take the news? Would he be mad? Would he try to force her to sleep with him again next time he saw her?

_What? But we were going so good! _came Austin's response.

_I'm confused about what I want, and I don't think it's fair for me to carry on with a relationship that I'm not 100% committed to. _Gabriella sent the message.

A minute later, another text appeared on Gabriella's phone. _Oh, so you're that kind of girl...the one that ends everything after she gets sex. _

Gabriella grabbed a tissue from her bedside table and wiped away the tears that were pouring down her cheeks. _No, I'm not that kind of girl. I didn't even want sex from you. You pressured me into it._

_Did not! I just asked you if you were a virgin, and then instead of answering my question, you just told me to get inside of you._ Austin sent the message.

_That wasn't how it happened, Austin. We both know that._ Gabriella was determined to let her boyfriend-or actually, ex-boyfriend-know that she wouldn't let him get away with lying.

_Well, are you a virgin? I mean, were you, before we did our thing? _Austin was determined to pressure Gabriella into revealing the most private fact about herself.

_It doesn't matter, Austin._ Gabriella sent the simple reply. The answer was no, she hadn't been a virgin when she had let Austin's urging get the best of her. Troy had been the one to take her most personal possession after she had been dating him for three years. However, he hadn't pressured her into it like Austin had. Instead, they had both talked it over and decided together that they were going to have sex. Only Troy hadn't given her sex, he had made love to her. He'd treated her with respect, love, and gentleness, and had taken time to get to know her body, which he'd assured her was beautiful. Those same actions were repeated each and every time they had showed their love for each other. But none of that was information she wished for Austin to know.

_Fine, be that way. _That was Austin's response.

Gabriella shut off her phone and threw it across the room. She was past done talking to Austin. Burying her face into her pillow, she let sobs overtake her as she mentally crossed "staying with Austin" off the list of options of things she could choose from.

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><p>Opening her eyes, Gabriella glanced over at her clock and realized that three hours had passed since she'd last checked the time. <em>I must've fallen asleep, <em>she thought. Letting out a sigh, she climbed out of bed and headed downstairs into the kitchen. After looking in both the refrigerator and the pantry, she walked to the living room, not being able to bring herself to eat even a cracker. Lying down on her couch, she picked up the remote and pressed the power button. Unfortunately, the news was on.

"Coming up next, are Troyella together again?" the reporter spoke. Then, pictures from the night Troy had taken Gabriella to his house appeared on the screen.

Feeling tears well up in her eyes, Gabriella quickly turned the TV off and, standing up, went back up to her room and checked her calendar. Only a week remained until she had to start filming her new movie. _Good. I have time to try to recover from all this, _she said to herself before plopping down onto her bed. It was then that her phone rang. Getting up, she began to look for where it had landed when she'd thrown it earlier. Normally, she would assume it was Austin, in which case she wouldn't have even bothered to get up, but he never actually called; he only sent texts. _It's probably my agent or something, _she thought. However, upon finding her phone, she saw that it was Troy. _What does he want?_ Hesitantly, she pressed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Gabriella?" came Troy's voice over the speaker.

"Yeah, it's me," Gabriella confirmed.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. I'm really sorry if it's too soon after everything for me to be calling, but I was just..." Troy trailed off.

_Worried, maybe?_ Delight surged through Gabriella's body at the thought of Troy being worried about her. However, she kept her response simple. "Well, I'm doing okay."

"Have you...have you eaten anything lately?" Troy knew Gabriella well enough to know that when she got really upset, she would eat a bowl of ice cream, then not have anything else until she was urged to, usually by him.

"No," Gabriella admitted.

"When was the last time you ate?" Troy pressed gently.

"The other night when you gave me ice cream," came Gabriella's soft, reluctant reply.

"Aw, sweetie, you have to eat at least a little something."

"I feel fine," lied Gabriella.

"But you need to eat, even if it's just a slice of bread. It's not good to go this long without eating," said Troy.

"I just...I just can't...I...I..." Gabriella started to cry. "I...I just...I just want you..." She blurted out.

"Don't cry, sweetie. I'll come...I'll be there in ten minutes, okay?"

"Okay," Gabriella sniffled. "Bye."

"Bye."

Gabriella hung up the phone, then made her way downstairs. She then sat down on the couch until she heard a knock. Standing up, she walked over to her door and answered it. As soon as Troy was inside, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest.

"It's okay. I'm here," Troy comforted, holding Gabriella close. After a few minutes passed in which she didn't loosen her grip on him, he lifted her into his arms and took her over to the couch. Placing her on his lap, he stroked her hair. "What's wrong, sweetie? He didn't do anything else to you, did he?"

"He...he texted me...and he...he basically called me a slut...and then...he...he tried to...he tried to find out if...if...if I had been a virgin when he...he...you know...pressured me to sleep with him..."

"I thought I taught him his lesson," Troy muttered to himself. Kissing the top of Gabriella's head, he gently massaged her shoulders.

"I...I never wanna see him again!" sobbed Gabriella. "I...I told him we had to...to break up...but that doesn't mean I'll never...never have to see him..." She turned around and, clutching Troy, dug her face into his shoulder. "Don't...don't leave me..."

"I'm not leaving you," assured Troy, fastening his arms around Gabriella's waist. "I'll stay here as long as you want."

Fifteen minutes of silence went by. It was then that Gabriella lifted her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Troy pressed a kiss into Gabriella's hair. "Is it okay if I go out to my car for a second? I have some food in there that I picked up for you on the way over."

"I'm not hungry," mumbled Gabriella.

"Sweetie, you haven't eaten since the other night. That's not good."

"Don't leave."

"You can come with me. Let's go." Pulling his keys from his pocket, Troy stood up, still holding Gabriella. After he got the food from his car and brought it inside, he placed her on the couch, then took a seat beside her. "Let's see," he began, looking inside the plastic bag he had. "I have trail mix, some chocolate kisses, and cookie dough ice cream. What do you want?"

"Ice cream," Gabriella replied. She didn't really want anything, but she knew she had to pick something or else Troy would force her to eat.

"Okay, sweetie. Let me just get a bowl and spoon for you." Getting up, Troy walked into Gabriella's kitchen holding the carton of ice cream. He knew exactly where she kept her dishes, so he didn't even have to ask where he could find what he was looking for. Once he had the bowl and spoon, he dished out a good amount of ice cream, then put the rest of it in the freezer. Then, he made his way back to Gabriella. "Here you go." He handed her the food.

Gabriella forced herself to spoon some ice cream into her mouth. It was then that she realized just how hungry she actually was.

"Is it good?" asked Troy.

Gabriella nodded, then scooped a little bit of ice cream up and held out her spoon. "Taste it."

Troy ate the offered food. "Mmm, good." He then noticed a spot of cookie dough on Gabriella's nose. "You have something on you. Let me clean that up." Leaning in, he kissed her nose, causing her to giggle. _This is just how we used to be before we broke up,_ he thought.

Once Gabriella had finished her ice cream, she placed the bowl on the coffee table in front of her, then crawled onto Troy's lap and buried her face in his chest. "Could you stay with me tonight? Like spend the night?"

"If you want me to, sweetie. I'll just have to quick go back home and get my overnight stuff and then I'll be right back." An idea suddenly popped into his head. "How about I run you a hot bubble bath to soak in while I'm gone?"

Gabriella, who hadn't showered or changed out of her sweats in three days, nodded against Troy's chest. Feeling his lips against the top of her head, she asked, "Could you bring me one of your sweatshirts?"

"Of course." Troy smiled. "Now, let's go upstairs so I can get your bath ready." After waiting a minute, Troy realized that Gabriella wasn't going to make a move to get off of him, so he fastened his arms around her and carried her up the steps and into the bathroom. He then sat her down on the counter and started running hot water in the tub. While it ran, he grabbed the bottle of bubble bath that was in the closet along with a towel and poured some of the liquidly substance into the water flow. In a few minutes, the bath was ready. "There you go, sweetie," Troy said, shutting the water off and turning toward Gabriella. "Enjoy." He handed her the towel. "I'll be back soon."

Gabriella nodded in acknowledgement, then slid off the counter. Once Troy walked through the doorway, closing the door behind him, Gabriella stripped her clothes off and climbed into the water. After shampooing her hair and scrubbing her skin, she leaned against the back of the tub and closed her eyes, relaxing. An hour went by before she let the water drain and stepped over the side of the tub. Then, she dried herself off and wrapped her towel around her body before exiting the bathroom and going to her room, where she dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a black spaghetti strap tank top. When she was finished with that, she ran a comb through her damp locks, then hurried downstairs, where Troy was sitting on the couch with a sweatshirt in his hand.

"Hey, sweetie," Troy smiled, holding the sweatshirt out for Gabriella to take. "How was your bath?"

"Good," replied Gabriella, taking the article of clothing and pulling it over her head. "I hope you weren't sitting here waiting too long."

"Oh, no, not at all. I wanted you to take your time and relax. Now sit down with me." Troy patted the space next to him. However, Gabriella ignored that motion and settled in his lap instead. "Aww, do you wanna be close to me?"

Gabriella nodded and cuddled into Troy. "What time is it?" she asked.

"Let's see..." Troy pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at it. "Ten," came his reply.

"I'm tired."

"Do you wanna go up to bed?"

"Mm-hm," murmured Gabriella.

"Okay."

Sliding off of Troy's lap, Gabriella yawned, then slowly headed toward the stairs.

After grabbing his bag of overnight things, Troy followed Gabriella up the steps and into her room. Setting his stuff down in a corner, he pulled back the covers and motioned for her to get into bed. Once she was lying down, he pulled the comforter to her chin and kissed her forehead. "Let me just quick go change and then I'll be here." He took a pair of basketballl shorts and a t-shirt from his bag and went to the bathroom. In a minute, he was back with Gabriella.

"Hold me, please," requested Gabriella before Troy even got over to her bed.

"I will." Smiling, Troy climbed into bed with Gabriella and, turning out the light that was beside her bed, wrapped her in his strong arms.

A moment of silence passed.

"Troy?" Gabriella began, turning her face toward Troy's.

"Yeah?" Troy pushed a piece of Gabriella's hair behind her ear.

"I...I made up my mind," she revealed, chewing on her lip.

"About what, sweetie?" queried Troy gently.

"About us." Gabriella's voice was barely a whisper. "I'd been thinking about what I wanted to do about our relationship since the other night when I stayed at your house, and I made up my mind. I want you. I feel safe with you, I feel comfortable around you, and I...I..." Gabriella struggled with her shyness. "I feel loved by you. You're the one I want to be with."

"What you just told me is what I've been wanting to tell you ever since the day we broke up." Troy ran his fingers through Gabriella's hair. "I love you, Gabriella, and I can't live without you."

"I love you, too, Troy." Tears started to drip down Gabriella's cheeks. However, instead of being tears of heartbreak and sadness, they were tears of joy.

Slowly leaning in, Troy captured Gabriella's lips with his in a simple-yet sweet-kiss.

As Gabriella kissed Troy, she felt sparks fly through her body, a feeling she had never experienced with Austin. Troy was the perfect match for her. No one could ever replace him. She could never love anyone like she loved him, and she was sure no one could ever love her like he did.

Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez belonged together, and that's how they would stay for the rest of their lives.

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><p><strong>So, I hope you liked it! Also, I don't know if you've read my updates section on my profile yet, but due to problems with this one author, I'm no longer accepting anonymous reviews:( I'm so sorry, but I had to disable that for a little while. You can go to my page for more details and also, I have my new YouTube username and my Twitter name listed there, so go check that out! And another thing-I wanted this to be up on Valentine's Day, but I couldn't find the time to finish it and post it, so I did it today:) So happy late Valentine's Day! Please review!<strong>


	3. Goodbye, My Love

_**Goodbye, My Love**_

**Troy and Gabriella say goodbye to each other before they go their separate ways. Based on Zanessa. Not related to the other two oneshots in this collection.**

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><p><em><strong>Just to tell you...<strong>_

**I know this probably isn't going to exactly make you happy, so if you're going through a moment where you feel really depressed/sad about the Zanessa break-up, you might want to put this on your "read later" list and read it at a time when you're feeling better, if you even want to risk reading it at all. It's just pretty much a short story I thought of while I was supposed to be doing homework that I decided to write to try to get some of the sadness out of my head so I could concentrate on my essay better. To give you a little bit of background information, I got the idea for this story because I was thinking of the last articles we ever got of Zanessa before the ones that announced their official break-up. I remember it said they were at a party or something like that and then they checked into a hotel room together for the night, so I kind of think they knew what was going on and just wanted the chance to say goodbye. So anyway, here it goes. And remember, read at your own risk.**

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><p>"Good morning, beautiful," Troy Bolton said, greeting his girlfriend, Gabriella Montez, as she opened her chocolate eyes. The previous evening had been spent at a party, after which the young couple had gotten a room for the night at a nearby hotel, which they were still in at that moment. However, the assumed reason they were in that room probably wasn't the correct one. Yes, they had made love to one another, but not with the emotions they had always felt before during the process. And no, they hadn't just hooked up after their two week break from one another during which they had thought about their relationship. The reason for their action kind of lay somewhere on the border between those two things, for they were doing it to say goodbye. But why was that?<p>

Well, to be brief, Troy and Gabriella had been dating for five years and two months. Their relationship had always felt firm, passionate, and secure up until the final six months, in which they had crossed many difficult paths. The topic of breaking up-or rather simply "taking a break"-had come up several times over that period, but had grown more prominent during the previous couple of weeks where they had spent time away from one another to really think individually about what to do with their relationship. The night before the current one, Troy had called Gabriella, and together, they had made their final decision to officially take a break, but not until they gave a final goodbye. Neither of them were happy about the break up, but they both knew that, no matter how hard it was, it was for the best.

"Good morning, handsome," Gabriella responded, struggling to push the thoughts that were forcing their way into her head out. _This will be the last time I get to say this._

"So, you feeling okay? Not too sore, are you?" As he asked the question, Troy pulled Gabriella a little closer to him and nuzzled his nose into her messy hair, taking in her sweet scent one final time. _This will be the last time I get to hold her like this._

"I'm fine." Gabriella forced a smile. _No, I'm not fine. I don't want to do this. I don't want to leave him._

_She's not fine. I'm not, either._ "So," Troy began after a pause, "What now?"

"Well, seeing that we only have the room for..." Gabriella glanced at the clock on the table beside the bed. "...for another half hour, I guess...I guess..."

"This is it," finished Troy quietly.

"I guess it is." Reluctant to leave her place next to Troy, Gabriella took her time in slipping out of bed. She then pulled on the clothes she had brought with her for that morning so she wouldn't have to wear the dress she had worn to the party.

Troy followed Gabriella's example and also got dressed. When that task was complete, he slowly made his way over to her and laced her fingers with his. "So...I guess it's time to...to...say goodbye."

"I guess." Gabriella fought back the tears that threatened to rush down her face. "But first..." She pulled her hands away from Troy's and knelt down to rummage around in the tote she had brought with her to pack some of her necessities in. Drawing out a sweatshirt, she again rose and gave it to Troy. "Here. I thought you might want this back. I won't have any use for it anymore."

"No, keep it," insisted Troy. "You always used it more than I did." A sad smile crossed his face.

Gabriella slipped the sweatshirt over her head. "Thank you." She reached for her bag again, but this time, instead of taking something out of it, she slung it over her shoulder. _Just get out of here as soon as you can. The longer you stay, the harder it'll be to leave. _"Well, I...I'm gonna go." She walked almost mechanically over to the door. Placing her hand on the knob, she looked behind her and said, "Goodbye." It was then that she turned it and stepped into the hall, struggling with all her heart not to look back.

Troy wiped a tear from his eye as he watched Gabriella turn a corner and disappear from his view. _It's over. It really is._ Aloud, he whispered, "Goodbye, my love." After staring at the place where she had last stood, he gathered his things and left the room, turning the opposite way she had when she had vanished.

The end of their story had come. Or maybe it was just the beginning.


	4. AN

**Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I'm starting fresh on a new profile. I'll still be writing Troyella, so go check me out at ~zefronsangel. I'll be posting the updated version of my story ****_Win Some, Lose Some_**** soon.**

**ZefronsAngel**


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